Lading separating apparatus

ABSTRACT

A LADING SEPARATING MEANS FOR STORAGE SPACES IN RAILROAD CARS, TRAILERS AND THE LIKE IS PROVIDED HAVING VERTICALLY SPACED HORIZONTAL TRACKS ON THE SIDE WALLS OF THE COMPARTMENTS AND INCLUDING PANELS POSITIONED BETWEEN OPPOSED WALLS OF THE COMPARTMENT AND HAVING SPACED PINS AT THE ENDS OF THE PANELS TO BOTH SUPPORT AND LATCH THE PANELS IN THE TRACKS. AN ARRANGEMENT OF TRACKS AND PANELS PROVIDES THAT THE PANELS ARE MOUNTABLE HORIZONTALLY OR VERTICALLY.

Jan. 19, 1971 F. A. BEZLAJ LADING SEPARATING APPARATUS Original FiledSept. 20, 1965 INVENTOR FRANK A. BEZLAJ United States Patent 27,034LADING SEPARATING APPARATUS Frank A. Bezlaj, Western Springs, Ill.,assignor to Unarco Industries, Inc., a corporation of Illinois OriginalNo. 3,352,595, dated Nov. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 488,601, Sept. 20, 1965.Application for reissue July 25, 1969, Ser. No. 858,900

Int. Cl. B60p 7/14 US. Cl. 29624 11 Claims Matter enclosed in heavybrackets appears in the original patent but forms no part of thisreissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates the additionsmade by reissue.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lading separating means for storage spacesin railroad cars, trailers and the like is provided having verticallyspaced horizontal tracks on the side walls of the compartments andincluding panels positioned between opposed walls of the compartment andhaving spaced pins at the ends of the panels to both support and latchthe panels in the tracks. An arrangement of tracks and panels providesthat the panels are mountable horizontally or vertically.

This invention relates to lading separating apparatus and moreparticularly to apparatus for effectively compartmentizing a ladingspace such as the space within a vehicle body.

In packing lading of various types in trucks, trailers and railroad carsfor transport as well as for storage in static spaces, it has become acommon practice to divide the space by movable partitions or panelswhich may be latched in various selected positions within the space.Separators of this type are usually relatively heavy and expensive andrequire the installation of heavy and expensive tracks on which thedividers are permanently and movably supported within the body. Suchapparatus is therefore not well adapted for use in vehicles such astrucks or trailers. Furthermore, while such apparatus effectivelyseparates the body lading space horizontally, it does not lend itself tocompartmentizing the space horizontally and vertically as is desirablefor the handling of many types of commodities.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide ladingseparating apparatus having a high degree of flexibility in dividing thespace both horizontally and vertically and which is suitable for use inhighway vehi-cles as well as in railroad cars.

Another object is to provide lading separating apparatus which iscapable of separating the lading space into compartments of differentsizes and shapes spaced both vertically and horizontally.

According to a feature of the invention, panels are individually freelymovable into and out of the body and carry follower members which aremovable from a retracted position within the panels to an extendedposition in which they are slidably supported on horizontally extendedtracks in the body. The panels may be positioned either vertically orhorizontally, may be of different sizes and may be latched in aplurality of different positions in the body.

According to another feature of the invention, the body carries aplurality of vertically spaced horizontal channel shaped tracks on eachside and the panels carry retractable pins which fit into the tracks tosupport the panels thereon for sliding or turning movement. Preferablythe tracks are formed with latching openings in their webs to receivethe pins carried by the panels thereby ice to latch the panels withinthe body. The tracks are preferably recessed into the body of thevehicle, thereby not reducing the inside width of the body.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be morereadily apparent from the following description when read in connectionwith the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view with parts broken away of a vehicleequipped with lading separating means embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partial face view of one of the panels;

FIGURES 3, 4 and 5 are partial sectional views through the vehicle sidewall showing different positions of the panel supporting and latchingpins with relation to the tracks; and

FIGURE 6 is a partial elevation of the body wall showing theconstruction of a track therein.

As illustrated in FIGURE 1 the invention is applied to a conventionalhighway trailer having a generally rectangular body comprising a floor10, sidewalls l1 and a roof 12. The body is closed at its forward end byan end wall 13 and may be provided at its open rear end withconventional closure doors, although in many cases such doors may beomitted. It will be understood, of course, that any other type offreight receiving body, such as a truck, railroad car or stationarystorage space, could be equipped with the lading separating apparatus ofthe invention as well as the trailer body illustrated.

Each of the sidewalls 11 is provided with a plurality of horizontallyextending tracks, three such tracks being shown for purposes ofillustration. As best seen in FIG- URES 3 to 6, each of the trackscomprises a channel shaped strip 14 recessed into the body sidewall withthe channel opening horizontally toward the interior of the body. Eachstrip 14 is formed in its base or web with a series of spaced latchingopenings 15 which register with corresponding spaces in the sidewall ofthe body so that latching pins can extend through the opening.

The body space is adapted to be divided into compartments by a series ofpanels which can be inserted in the body in different selected positionsand can be latched in such positions. As shown, two different types ofpanels are provided, one type of which, illustrated at 16, is of a sizesubstantially to close the body space when set in a vertical positiontherein. The other type, as illustrated at 17, is of approximately halfwidth to span approximately half of the vertical space in the body andto extend between two adjacent tracks.

The panels 16 slidably carry at their opposite vertical edges three setsof pins 18 which may be moved to a retracted position within the panel,as shown in FIGURE 3, or to a partially extended position projectingbeyond the panel edge, as shown in FIGURE 4, or to a fully extendedposition, as shown in FIGURE 5. To operate the pins each panel isprovided in registry with each horizontally aligned pair of pins with anoperating lever 19 pivoted intermediate its ends to the panel andconnected on opposite sides of its pivot through links 21 to therespective pins. Preferably the panels are hollow with the linksextending between the walls thereof and with the operating levers lyingbetween the walls. One or both faces of the panels may be formed withopenings 22 through which the ends of the levers 19 are accessible formanual operation. Each of the panels 16 as shown is provided with threepairs of pins 18 spaced to correspond to the spacing of the tracks 14.Each of the shorter panels 17 is provided only at its upper and loweredges with pairs of pins 18 which will register with adjacent tracks 14.

For using the lading separating apparatus, the pins may be moved totheir retracted position, as shown in FIG- URE 3, and the panels may beinserted in the body. When a panel is to be installed in a verticalposition it may be placed vertically and the pins may then be extendedto their intermediate position, as shown in FIGURE 4, in which they willenter the channel tracks 14 and support the panel from the tracks. Withthe pins so extended the panel may he slid to any desired positionwithin the body and the pins may then be further extended to theposition shown in FIGURE 5 to enter the latching opening 15 in thetracks thereby to latch the panel securely in the selected position. Itwill be seen that not all of the pins on any one panel need be extendedsince any one pair of the pins will support the panel for slidingmovement. It will further be apparent that when only one set of pins isextended the panel can be swung about the horizontal axis defined bythat set of pins to a horizontal position in which all of the pins ateach side thereof lit into the same track. When in horizontal positionthe panel may serve as a pallet to support lading in the body. In thisway the panel can be used to divide the body either horizontally orvertically, as shown in FIGURE 1. Also, for storage to provide minimuminterference with the lading space, the panels can be placed inhorizontal position in the upper pair of tracks as shown at the right ofFIGURE 1.

The shorter panels 17 may be located in the body in any desiredpositions to form compartments of different sizes and shapes. Thesepanels also can be positioned either horizontally or vertically and canserve to divide the body into relatively small compartments. One typicalarrangement which might be desirable for various types P of lading isillustrated in FIGURE 1.

It will thus be seen that by the present invention an extremely highdegree of flexibility in separation of a lading space is made possiblewith a relatively simple and light weight type of equipment. While oneembodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail itwill be understood that this is illustrative only and is not to be takenas a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had forthis purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Lading separating apparatus in combination with a generallyrectangular body adapted to receive lading comprising a plurality ofvertically spaced parallel tracks extending along the sidewalls of thebody, the tracks being inwardly opening channels, a panel of a lengthsubstantially to span the space between the sidewalls, follower membersmovably carried by the panel and movable to one position in which theyclear the tracks and to a second position in which they engage thetracks to support the panel for sliding movement therealong, thefollowers being pins slidably carried by the panel and adapted toproject beyond the ends of the panel to fit slidably in the channels,and cooperating latch means on the panel and the body to latch the panelin any one of a plurality of selected positions in the body, the latchmeans comprising a plurality of spaced openings in the webs of eachchannel and the follower pins being movable to a third position in whichthey engage the openings.

2. The lading separating apparatus of claim 1 in which the followermembers are in pairs with the members of each pair being at oppositeends of the panel to engage tracks on opposite sidewalls of the bodyrespectively and including operating means for separately moving thefollower members of different pairs.

3. Lading separating apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein thetracks are in the form of channel strips carried by the bodys sidewallsand facing inwardly of the wall.

4. Lading separating apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the panelis of a width substantially equal to the vertical spacing between a pairof spaced parallel tracks.

5. Lading separating apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein at leasttwo follower members are provided at each end of the panel, and saidfollower members at each ill end of the panel are spaced a distanceequal to the vertical distance between a pair of parallel tracks,whereby said follower members may support the panel in a verticalposition spanning a pair of tracks or alternatively in a horizontalposition on a single track.

6. Lading separating apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein thetracks are recesses in the side walls of the body.

7. Lading separating apparatus comprising, in combination with agenerally rectangular body adapted to receive lading, at least threevertically spaced horizontal tracks on each side of the body, the tracksbeing inwardly opening channels, a panel of a length to span the bodyfrom side to side, a plurality of follower members corresponding inspacing to the spacing of tracks on each side of the body carried by thepanel at each of its ends, means movably mounting the follower memberson the panel for movement from an extended position in which they engagethe tracks for longitudinal movement therealong to a retracted positionin which they clear the tracks, the follower members being pins slidablycarried by the panel, and latching means to latch the panel in any oneof a plurality of positions in the body, the latching means including aplurality of spaced openings in the web of each channel, and thefollower members being extendable to a latching position in which theyenter selected ones of the spaced openings.

8. Lading separating apparatus comprising, in combination with agenerally rectangular body adapted to receive lading, a plurality ofvertically spaced, horizontally elongated, continuous track means oneach side of the body, each track means including a lower elongatedsurface and an upper elongated surface parallel to and spaced above saidlower surface, a panel of a length to span the body from side to sideand inwardly of said surfaces of the track means and of a width toextend from one of the track means to another when the panel is in avertical position, a pair of pins extending from each end of the paneladjacent to the edges thereof and spaced a distance equal to thedistance between two of the vertically spaced track means to permit suchpins simultaneously to engage two of the track means when the panel isin a vertical position, said pins at each end of the panel beingguidahly positioned between the spaced surfaces of the track means andengageable with and slidable along the lower elongated surface of thesame track means to support the panel in a horizontal position, andlatching means on the track means cooperating with the pins to latch thepanel against movement along the track means.

9. Lading separating apparatus comprising, in combination with agenerally rectangular body adapted to receive lading, at least threevertically spaced horizontal tracks on each side of the body, a panel ofa length to span the body from side to side, a plurality of followermembers corresponding in spacing to the tracks on each side of the bodycarried by the panel at each of its ends, means movably mounting thefollower members on the panel for movement from an extended position inwhich they engage the tracks for longitudinal movement therealong to aretracted position in which they clear the tracks, and latching means tolatch the panel in any one of a plurality of positions in the body,there being a plurality of panels some of which extend the full heightof the body and have at least three follower members at each end of thebody and others of which are of less height and have a smaller number offollower members.

10. Lading separating apparatus comprising, in combination: an elongatedbody 0 generally rectangular crosssection adapted to receive Iadingtherein, a plurality of vertically-spaced, parallel, horizontal trackmeans along opposite longitudinal sides of the body, a panel 0') alength to substantially span the body between said sides, a plurality ofelongated track-engaging members carried by the panel, in a manner so asto be nompivotable about their respective longitudinal axes, andextending outwardly of opposite ends of the panel for engagement withsaid track means, the track-engaging members cooperating with the trackmeans to provide the same character of engagement therebetweenregardless of whether the panel is at a horizontal attitude or at anupright attitude within the body, and the spacing of said track-engagingmembers at each end of the panel corresponding with the vertical spacingof track means, whereby the panel may be selectively used either at ahorizontal attitude as a pallet or at an upright attitude as a bulkhead.

11. Lading separating apparatus as in claim 10 including cooperatingfeatures on the track means and track-engaging members or maintainingthe panel at selected positions longitudinally within the elongated bodyregardless 15 whether the panel is at a horizontal or upright attitude.

References Cited 3,070,044 12/1962 Tobin 105369 1/1966 Shook 105369PHILIP GOODMAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

